Simulacrum
by sinemoras09
Summary: 70 year-old Beth takes shelter at the Citadel of Mortys. She only has a hologram of Rick to keep her company. Gen. Angst. Post-series. No spoilers.


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The spaceship groans, then sputters, the metal plates rattling a little as Beth grips her hands on the steering wheel. In front of her, the bright silver towers of the Citadel of Mortys catches the ring of sunlight like a mirror, and Beth has to squint her eyes against the brightness as she navigates against the yellow horizon.

She is seventy years-old, the same age her Dad was when she left him, all those years ago.

xXx

.

There is a landing pad just outside the Citadel limits, right on a flat top of dusty asteroid crater.

Beth lands the spaceship expertly, the thrusters sputtering only a few times before coming to a rocky stop. She had taken a lot of damage from her last Federation skirmish - the daughter of the fabled Rick Sanchez, just as storied and just as much a fugitive as her Dad - and even though she doesn't want to land here, she really has no choice in the matter.

"Computer. What's the estimated time before we reach our destination coordinates?"

The computer belches. "_The fuck are you asking me for? Get a fuckin' watch._"

Beth sighs, then opens the console. "Dad, I'm tired. Just give me the fucking ETA already, okay?"

The computer buzzes. "_Sweetie, h-how many times do I gotta tell you? I'm not your fuckin' Father."_

Goddammit. Beth kicks open the door, which opens with a rusty groan, and steps out onto the craggy rock. The spaceship is dented and a large column of smoke rises from the boosters.

It's almost nightfall, and Beth doesn't want to deal with the Mortys. If the Citadel of Ricks was full of douchebags, the Citadel of Mortys is even worse, and Beth is starting to get a migraine. But the Federation is on her ass and Beth wants to get off this fucking rock before they can catch her.

The hologram of her father flickers in front of her.

"_Sweetie, it's _ urrp_ two hours and thirty-five minutes before sundown, you need to get back on the flight path before the Federation catches up._" The hologram walks around her, peering over her shoulder. "_Oh man_," he says, and the interface shimmers. "_You really are fucked._"

"Can you just shut the fuck up and help me?" Beth flips open a panel and coughs at the sudden stream of smoke. "What's the damage? Can we fix it?"

"_You'd best call a Morty for a fuckin' tow truck._"

"Dammit."

Beth kicks the panel, angrily.

xXx

.

All the Ricks went extinct within one or two years of each other.

Beth takes a long drag of her cigarette, remembering. Ricks were dropping dead like flies and the Mortys suddenly had no one to rely on after years of being fucking babied. There was a brief coup when a Rick-like Jerry tried to take over, but Jerrys too were nearing mass extinction, and while Summers generally didn't give a shit, there were at least a handful of Mortys who weren't completely incompetent.

"_Whoa, harsh_," the hologram says. "Urrrp _you forget you were a Morty's mother._"

"'Were,' is the operative word, and that clone you built was a better mother than I could ever be." She takes another drag of her cigarette, then flicks the ash over the console.

The tow truck comes. A Morty hops out - not her Morty, none of these dipshits are her Morty - but a balding, Jerry-headed Morty, who's sporting a ratty baseball cap and bags under his eyes like reminders of his middle age.

"A-are you a robot Beth, or a Beth Beth?" Tow Truck Morty asks. Beth leans against the space ship.

"I'm the Bethest Beth. Which one was your Rick?"

"My Rick was a Tow Truck Rick," Tow Truck Morty says, and he hitches the spaceship to his trailer.

xXx

.

She didn't know her Rick died until her clone contacted her.

The clone didn't consciously contact her, of course: it sent a coded radio signal while it was asleep. Beth was in the middle of an arms deal when her spaceship beeped, then sputtered. "_Emergency. Code 733. Emergency. Code 733..._"

"Everything okay?" the mercenaries had asked, and Beth just grunted and grabbed the money, stuffing it in her bag.

They cross into the boundaries of the Citadel. Entering the temporal field, Beth cranes her neck and looks outward at the golden skyline and the shimmering towers glittering above them. Where there used to be statues of her Dad like silent sentinels, now were replaced with equally shitty and off-putting statues of Morty. "_What a pretentious little shit,"_ hologram Rick says, and Beth rolls her eyes and sinks down into the seat, ignoring him.

They reach a checkpoint. Militia Mortys are guarding the entrance. "State your business?"

"My business is none of your fucking business" Beth says, but the Tow Truck Morty smiles.

"Her ship got totaled," Tow Truck Morty says, and the Militia Mortys circle her warily.

"I-it looks like it took heavy fire. Was this Federation-related?"

"God you really are fucking stupid. Does it look like it's Federation-related?" Beth says. The Mortys glance at each other.

"You're a Beth," the Militia Morty says. "There's not, there's not too many Beths left."

"Yeah well I'm the Bethest Beth, okay. How about some fucking respect, I'm one of your little fuckers' mothers."

"Aw geez, Beth. Y-y-you're really laying into me."

"Shut the fuck up and let me pass," Beth says. The Mortys glance at each other, then wave her in.

"_Nice_," hologram Rick says. Beth glares.

"No one fucking asked you."

xXx

.

The motel she stays at is a shithole, but it's in the middle of Old Mortytown, it was roughly what she was expecting.

She carries her Dad's hologram in what looks like a makeup compact, slipping it into her bag while she checks in at the desk. This Morty is a bald Morty, who's chewing a piece of gum like cud. He hands her the grungy keycard and rattles off instructions for where to find ice, and for a moment Beth forgets that this tired middle-aged man is a Morty, not unlike her Morty, and that in another dimension this man was her son.

"_Oh man. You must be goin' crazy. The fuck are you carrying me around, for?_" Her Dad's disembodied voice leaks out from the sides of the compact. Beth frowns at him.

"Maybe I just want some company," Beth says, and the compact snorts, derisively.

She taps the button at the center, and the hologram flares into focus, the bright blue projection lighting up the darkness of the hotel room.

"_Man, what a shithole_," hologram Rick says, and Beth leans back on the bed, watching as the hologram acclimates itself, examining their surroundings.

"Hey, Dad?"

"_What?_"

"Did you have a hologram of me and Mom, when you were traveling?"

The hologram flickers, considering.

"_You want the truth, or you want me to lie?_"

"I dunno. Pick one," Beth says, and she leans back with her hands behind her head.

"_You carry a fucking hologram of Summer or Morty?_"

"God no. And thank you for not asking about Jerry."

She hears a siren in the distance. A group of Mortys talking loudly outside.

"Dad?"

"_I'm not your fucking Dad._"

"I know that." Beth sighs. "Initiate command protocol."

"_W-what is it?_"

"Stop reminding me you're not my Dad."

The hologram whirs. "_Noted. W-w-what's with the change? You specifically told me to remind you I wasn't your Dad._"

"I dunno. I'm old. I'm tired of being reminded."

The hologram whirs again. "_Do you want me to access your father's memories too, or no?"_

Beth considers. "Yeah. Fuck it. Access them," Beth says, and the hologram whirs again.

"_Better,_" hologram Rick says, and the blue projection makes it so it's like he's sitting next to her on the bed. "_God, w-what a fucking joke. W-w-what's the point of keeping my shitty personality if you won't let me access the reasons why I'm such an asshole?_"

Beth doesn't quite smile at that. "Remind me again you're not my Dad."

"_You sure? Because conceptually speaking, sweetie, I am your Dad. Except, you know, without the corporeal body or anything._"

"You're a program archived with my Dad's memories," Beth says. "You're here because my real Dad thought I'd pussy out and need your help."

_"Yeah, and you did pussy out. You pussied out fucking years ago."_

"Shut the fuck up," Beth says. She lies back in bed.

Beth looks up at the ceiling fan, which is turning slowly. Above her, the ceiling is pock-marked with water stains and what looks like bullet holes - probably bullet holes, she thinks, because this is Old Mortytown and because this place is a fucking shithole - and she takes a moment to blink back the growing pressure behind her eyes, which by now are shining and threatening to spill over.

"I'm so fucking tired," Beth says. "I'm tired of being alone."

Outside, a car drives by, its headlights arcing through the grimy curtains at the window.

"Dad?"

"_Yeah?_"

"What happened to Summer and Morty? What happened to my real Dad?"

"_I don't know._" Hologram Rick looks steadily at her. "_I was programmed to come online when he died. I only have his memories up until the day you left._"

Beth goes quiet after that.

"Dad?"

"_Yeah?_"

"Did you miss me and Mom, after you left?"

The hologram pauses at that.

"_Every day,_" he says. He doesn't look at her. "_But you were safer after I left._"

Beth shifts. She draws her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs.

"You left to keep me and Mom safe," Beth says. "I left because I was bored and I hated my life and I wanted to get away." Beth swipes at her eyes, angrily. "The fuck is wrong with me?" she says, more to herself than to him.

"_Same thing that was wrong with me_," hologram Rick says. "_You couldn't make your family happy. You knew I could make a clone who would. You left for the same reasons I did._"

She stares at the threadbare bedspread, at the off-color stain seeped into the fabric.

"Dad?"

"_Yeah?_"

"Did you love me?" Beth's eyes flick upwards toward his.

The hologram nods. "_Yeah_," he says. "_I did_."

"You know my real Dad would have deflected that with something sarcastic," Beth says.

"_The fuck do you want from me? This compact doesn't have enough space for my winning personality._"

Beth makes an amused noise, smiling.

"Remember that old lullaby you used to recite to me? What were the words again?"

"_That wasn't a lullaby, sweetie, i-i-it was fucking _ Cat in the Hat_ in Spanish."_

"That would explain why you didn't sing it." Beth looks out the window. "Why'd you read Cat in the Hat in Spanish?"

"_First of all, I didn't read it, okay, I-I-I have a fucking photographic memory, I recited it. And I recited it in Spanish because I knew it'd piss off your Mom."_

"Why would that piss off Mom?"

"_Because I only spoke Spanish when I was drunk, and cards on the table, I was always kind of drunk._"

"Christ." Beth leans her chin on her knees. "That explains why I never learned Spanish."

"_Heh._"

They sit in companionable silence, the quiet punctuated only by the stray sounds of cars passing or a few Mortys walking by.

"_Sweetie, w-w-w-what's all this about? It's been twenty fucking years. Why all the reminiscing now?_"

"I dunno, man. It's like...I traded away my family for my freedom, and what did I get out of it? I thought there'd be more than just...this," Beth says, and she gestures around her. "Wandering around the fucking cosmos feeling fucking empty."

"_And you wonder why I liked to drink_," Rick says, and Beth laughs, ruefully.

"Dad?"

"_Yeah?_"

"Did you regret it? Leaving me and Mom?"

"_Yeah,_" he says, simply. "_I did._"

They fall quiet after that.

"Dad?"

"_Yeah?_"

"Why do you think you never contacted me?" Beth's eyes slide upward. "I was around. You traveled around with Morty."

"_I guess...maybe I wanted you to be your own person. Maybe I wanted you not to have to rely on me._"

"And yet you programmed this shitty hologram to watch over me." She rubs her face tiredly.

"I love you, Dad," she says.

"_I love you too, sweetie._"

"Initiate command protocol."

"_Initiating. What is it?_"

Beth considers.

"Delete these last twenty minutes from your system logs. And if I get emotional remind me you're not my fucking Dad."

"_Noted. Anything else?_"

"Yeah. Tell me again that you love me?"

The hologram whirs.

"_I love you_," he says. "_Sweetie, I always have._"

"Thanks, Dad," she says, and she wipes her eyes again.

He smiles.

"_I'm not your fucking Dad._"


End file.
